Historical
Psalm 40[a]
Gratitude and Prayer for Help
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
A
2 Surely, I wait for the Lord;
who bends down to me and hears my cry,(A)
3 Draws me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
Sets my feet upon rock,
steadies my steps,
4 And puts a new song[b] in my mouth,(C)
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in fear
and they shall trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed the man who sets
his security in the Lord,
who turns not to the arrogant
or to those who stray after falsehood.(D)
6 You, yes you, O Lord, my God,
have done many wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.(E)
Should I wish to declare or tell them,
too many are they to recount.(F)
7 [c]Sacrifice and offering you do not want;(G)
you opened my ears.
Holocaust and sin-offering you do not request;
8 so I said, “See; I come
with an inscribed scroll written upon me.
9 I delight to do your will, my God;
your law is in my inner being!”(H)
10 When I sing of your righteousness
in a great assembly,
See, I do not restrain my lips;
as you, Lord, know.(I)
11 I do not conceal your righteousness
within my heart;
I speak of your loyalty and your salvation.
I do not hide your mercy or faithfulness from a great assembly.
12 Lord, may you not withhold
your compassion from me;
May your mercy and your faithfulness
continually protect me.(J)
B
13 But evils surround me
until they cannot be counted.
My sins overtake me,
so that I can no longer see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my courage fails me.(K)
14 Lord, graciously rescue me!(L)
Come quickly to help me, Lord!
15 May those who seek to destroy my life
be shamed and confounded.
Turn back in disgrace
those who desire my ruin.(M)
16 Let those who say to me “Aha!”(N)
Be made desolate on account of their shame.
17 While those who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
May those who long for your salvation
always say, “The Lord is great.”(O)
18 Though I am afflicted and poor,
my Lord keeps me in mind.
You are my help and deliverer;
my God, do not delay!
Psalm 41[d]
Thanksgiving After Sickness
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 Blessed the one concerned for the poor;[e]
on a day of misfortune, the Lord delivers him.(P)
3 The Lord keeps and preserves him,
makes him blessed in the land,
and does not betray him to his enemies.
4 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed,
you turn down his bedding whenever he is ill.[f]
II
5 Even I have said, “Lord, take note of me;
heal me, although I have sinned against you.
6 My enemies say bad things against me:
‘When will he die and his name be forgotten?’
7 When someone comes to visit me, he speaks without sincerity.
His heart stores up malice;
when he leaves, he gossips.(Q)
8 All those who hate me whisper together against me;
they imagine the worst about me:
9 ‘He has had ruin poured over him;
that one lying down will never rise again.’
10 [g]Even my trusted friend,
who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.(R)
III
11 “But you, Lord, take note of me to raise me up
that I may repay them.”[h]
12 By this I will know you are pleased with me,
that my enemy no longer shouts in triumph over me.
13 In my integrity may you support me
and let me stand in your presence forever.
14 [i]Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from all eternity and forever.
Amen. Amen.(S)
Second Book—Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42[j]
Longing for God’s Presence in the Temple
1 For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.[k]
I
2 As the deer longs for streams of water,(T)
so my soul longs for you, O God.
3 My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When can I enter and see the face of God?[l](U)
4 My tears have been my bread day and night,(V)
as they ask me every day, “Where is your God?”(W)
5 Those times I recall
as I pour out my soul,(X)
When I would cross over to the shrine of the Mighty One,[m]
to the house of God,
Amid loud cries of thanksgiving,
with the multitude keeping festival.(Y)
6 Why are you downcast, my soul;
why do you groan within me?
Wait for God, for I shall again praise him,
my savior and my God.
II
7 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I remember you
From the land of the Jordan[n] and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar,(Z)
8 [o]Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your torrents,
and all your waves and breakers
sweep over me.(AA)
9 By day may the Lord send his mercy,
and by night may his righteousness be with me!
I will pray[p] to the God of my life,
10 I will say to God, my rock:
“Why do you forget me?(AB)
Why must I go about mourning
with the enemy oppressing me?”
11 It shatters my bones, when my adversaries reproach me,
when they say to me every day: “Where is your God?”
12 Why are you downcast, my soul,
why do you groan within me?
Wait for God, for I shall again praise him,
my savior and my God.
Psalm 43
1 Grant me justice, O God;
defend me from a faithless people;
from the deceitful and unjust rescue me.(AC)
2 You, O God, are my strength.
Why then do you spurn me?
Why must I go about mourning,
with the enemy oppressing me?
3 (AD)Send your light and your fidelity,[q]
that they may be my guide;(AE)
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place of your dwelling,
4 That I may come to the altar of God,
to God, my joy, my delight.
Then I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you downcast, my soul?
Why do you groan within me?
Wait for God, for I shall again praise him,
my savior and my God.
Psalm 44[r]
God’s Past Favor and Israel’s Present Need
1 For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.
I
2 O God, we have heard with our own ears;
our ancestors have told us(AF)
The deeds you did in their days,
with your own hand in days of old:
3 You rooted out nations to plant them,(AG)
crushed peoples and expelled them.
4 Not with their own swords did they conquer the land,(AH)
nor did their own arms bring victory;
It was your right hand, your own arm,
the light of your face for you favored them.(AI)
5 You are my king and my God,(AJ)
who bestows victories on Jacob.
6 Through you we batter our foes;
through your name we trample our adversaries.
7 Not in my bow do I trust,
nor does my sword bring me victory.
8 You have brought us victory over our enemies,
shamed those who hate us.
9 In God we have boasted all the day long;
your name we will praise forever.
Selah
II
10 (AK)But now you have rejected and disgraced us;
you do not march out with our armies.(AL)
11 You make us retreat[s] before the foe;
those who hate us plunder us at will.(AM)
12 You hand us over like sheep to be slaughtered,
scatter us among the nations.(AN)
13 You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from their sale.(AO)
14 You make us the reproach of our neighbors,(AP)
the mockery and scorn of those around us.
15 You make us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
16 All day long my disgrace is before me;
shame has covered my face
17 At the sound of those who taunt and revile,
at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
III
18 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
nor been disloyal to your covenant.
19 [t]Our hearts have not turned back,
nor have our steps strayed from your path.
20 Yet you have left us crushed,
desolate in a place of jackals;[u](AQ)
you have covered us with a shadow of death.
21 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
stretched out our hands to another god,
22 Would not God have discovered this,
God who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For you we are slain all the day long,
considered only as sheep to be slaughtered.(AR)
IV
24 Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Rise up! Do not reject us forever!(AS)
25 Why do you hide your face;(AT)
why forget our pain and misery?
26 For our soul has been humiliated in the dust;(AU)
our belly is pressed to the earth.
27 Rise up, help us!
Redeem us in your mercy.
Psalm 45[v]
Song for a Royal Wedding
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.” A maskil of the Korahites. A love song.
I
2 My heart is stirred by a noble theme,
as I sing my ode to the king.
My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.
II
3 You are the most handsome of men;
fair speech has graced your lips,
for God has blessed you forever.(AV)
4 Gird your sword upon your hip, mighty warrior!
In splendor and majesty ride on triumphant!(AW)
5 In the cause of truth, meekness, and justice
may your right hand show your wondrous deeds.
6 Your arrows are sharp;
peoples will cower at your feet;
the king’s enemies will lose heart.
7 Your throne, O God,[w] stands forever;(AX)
your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.
8 You love justice and hate wrongdoing;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.
9 With myrrh, aloes, and cassia
your robes are fragrant.
From ivory-paneled palaces[x]
stringed instruments bring you joy.
10 Daughters of kings are your lovely wives;
a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold[y]
comes to stand at your right hand.
III
11 Listen, my daughter, and understand;
pay me careful heed.
Forget your people and your father’s house,[z]
12 that the king might desire your beauty.
He is your lord;
13 (AY)honor him, daughter of Tyre.
Then the richest of the people
will seek your favor with gifts.
14 All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters,(AZ)
her raiment threaded with gold;
15 In embroidered apparel she is led to the king.
The maids of her train are presented to the king.
16 They are led in with glad and joyous acclaim;
they enter the palace of the king.
IV
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.